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The MBTA Communities legislation, or “Section 3A”, became law in 2021. It “requires that an MBTA community shall have at least one zoning district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right and meets other criteria set forth in the statute…” More information here.
In other words: it requires 177 towns that are considered MBTA communities to comply with zoning requirements for dense, multi-family housing. The goal is to help address the housing crisis in Massachusetts.
The Planning Board and Planning Department have been working with a consultant to devise a strategy that would bring Sudbury into compliance with the legislation. Adam Burney, Sudbury’s Director of Planning and Community Development, joined the Finance Committee meeting to answer their questions about financial impact of compliance. His quick overview of the Town’s proposed approach to compliance is about as efficient an explainer as you can find anywhere. (03:50)
The approach creates a “Multi-Family Overlay District” and plops it right on top of two existing developments in Sudbury: Meadow Walk on Boston Post Road, and Cold Brook Crossing on Route 117. As the Planning Board report says in the warrant article:
“The Bylaw submitted by the Sudbury Planning Board meets this requirement and places the proposed by-right multi-family districts at the location of the existing residential developments at Meadow Walk and Cold Brook Crossing. Although the Commonwealth has required that these Zoning Districts be created, there is no requirement that any new units be approved or constructed for a municipality to be considered compliant.”
Planning Board Report, Pages 53-54
In other words, Sudbury’s bylaws would allow more units at these developments, but it was described by Burney as unlikely that recently-opened developments would be redesigned and redeveloped anytime soon just to add incrementally more units, and existing infrastructure for septic/wastewater may be a hurdle. If this approach works as intended, it could bring the Town into compliance with the legislation without opening the door to radical changes anywhere in Sudbury.
The money picture also came into focus during the discussion. Burney noted that it’s very difficult to forecast any financial impact on the Town, either in terms of adding students to the schools or growing demand on emergency services, because no project is currently proposed. He emphasized that the legislation does not require anything to be built; it’s just a zoning change. He also checked with public safety officials, and they felt they already have these areas sufficiently covered with the resources they have.
On the flip side, he explained that non-compliance could have a significant negative financial impact on Sudbury. In response to a question about the impact of non-compliance, Burney said:
“Well we would lose all of the access to the Housing Choice grants, which we have about half a million dollars in right now. We would lose access to all of the One Stop grant programs which includes Massworks, Site Readiness, all the economic development-based things. And currently we’re looking to program the last section of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail on the Transportation Improvement Program, which is run through the State Metropolitan Planning Organization, and that’s going to be about 8.3 or 8.4 million dollars, and that would likely be something that we would lose access to. So we’re talking about probably somewhere in the 8 to 10 million dollars immediately, never mind what other potential grants might be out there for programs and projects that come in the future.”
Adam Burney, Director of Planning and Community Development 14:30
Burney estimated the total number of new units that would be theoretically allowed if the Town complies is approximately 300 combined across the two locations. He added that Cold Brook Crossing currently has 173 units not including the two front buildings, because they wouldn’t be in the new overlay district. Meadow Walk currently has 310 units. (20:50)
The Planning Board is expected to hold public hearings on this topic and others in the coming weeks, and then it will go to a vote at Annual Town Meeting in May.